Mountains and Volcanoes of Washington State
- Mount Rainer. Mt. ...
- Mt. St. ...
- Olympic Mountains. Olympic National Park is located a short ferry ride from Seattle across the Puget Sound to Bainbridge Island.
- Mt. Adams. ...
- Mount Pilchuck. Mount Pilchuck is a popular hiking destination for everyone from intermediate to experienced hikers.
- Mount Baker. Mt. ...
- Big Four Mountain and Ice Caves. ...
- Diablo Lake. ...
What famous mountain peak can be seen from Seattle?
12 spectacular views you’ll only see in Seattle. 1. Mt. Rainier backdropping the big-city skyline. There is no singular landmass you can behold from Seattle as exaggerated or as striking at Mt. Rainier. As the centerpiece of the fifth national park designated in the United States, the mountain has held the imagination of the country as firmly ...
What Mountains are visible from Seattle?
- Mount Adams: U.S. ...
- Mount Baker: Third Lieutenant Joseph Baker (a member of Vancouver's expedition)
- Desolation Peak: So named after a forest fire swept the slopes bare in 1926
- Glacier Peak: Based on an 1870 survey by Daniel Linsley
- Hamilton Mountain: Pioneer settler Samuel M. ...
- Hurricane Ridge: For its gale-force winds
What volcano can you see from Seattle?
US Mount Rainier, the highest volcano on the Pacific Rim, and Mount St. Helens, the highest mountain on the Pacific Rim, are two of the most awe-inspiring in Washington State. As seen from the Seattle area, Mount Rainier peaks at 14,411 feet on clear days.
What mountain range is just east of Seattle?
Mount Rainier is the tallest mountain in Washington and the Cascade Range. This peak is located just east of Eatonville and just southeast of Tacoma and Seattle. [25] Mount Rainier is ranked third of the 128 ultra-prominent mountain peaks of the United States.
What mountains can you see from downtown Seattle?
Rainier. The majestic peak stands at an elevation of 14,411 feet, making it one of the highest mountains in the continental USA. And it's less than 100 miles from downtown Seattle, which means I see it all the time just driving around the city!
Can you see the Cascades from Seattle?
It displays the view of the Cascades as seen from the I-90 bridge overlook - one of the best Seattle vantage points towards the Cascades - in all of its splendor. Many of the most popular hiking and climbing destinations are here, from Mount Si to Mount Rainier and Glacier Peak.
Which is better Mt Rainier or North Cascades?
While both parks offer incredible views and hikes, Mount Rainier National Park is better because it is easier to access and has more amenities and attractions. Hikes and views here are accessible on shorter hikes or simply a scenic drive. However, if you're looking to explore the backcountry, consider North Cascades.
Is North Cascades worth visiting?
North Cascades National Park is highly underrated park, especially for hikers and backpackers. The scenic drives and overlooks give you a glimpse of the beauty of this place, but to truly discover the majesty of the North Cascades, you'll have to hit the hiking trails.
Are there mountains in Seattle?
If I had to sum it up in two words, I would say: “The Mountains.” Seattle is bordered by two mountain ranges – the Cascades to the east, and the Olympics to the west – and off in the distance to the south, we are anchored by the sublime Mount Rainier, a mountain that evokes wonder and adventure in locals and visitors ...
How far is Mt Rainier from Seattle as the crow flies?
Rainier is a quintessential Pacific Northwest experience. It's less than 60 miles from downtown Seattle to the summit of Mt. Rainier as the crow flies but it takes about two hours to drive to the popular southwest Nisqually Entrance of the park from the city.
How long does it take to drive through North Cascades?
2-3 hoursNorth Cascades National Park has no entrance fee. How Long: At least 2-3 hours, just to drive through with no stops. Do plan time for a few stops! Amenities: Visitor centers with restrooms, picnic areas, camping, limited dining and lodging options.
Can you take a ferry from Seattle to Olympic National Park?
The shortest route from the Seattle area to Olympic National Park requires taking a boat from Washington State Ferries. From downtown, drive onto the Seattle-Bainbridge Island ferry or the Seattle-Bremerton ferry; from the northern suburbs, the Edmonds-Kingston ferry is quickest.
Mt. Si
Named After Josiah “Uncle Si” Merritt, a homesteader who lived at the base in the nineteenth century, but most famous for its starring role in the Twin Peaks credit sequence Found Just over a half hour from Seattle, the North Bend’s massif is a hugely popular destination for day hikers.
Mt. Olympus
Named By explorer John Meares, who thought the mountain looked like the home of the Greek gods
Mt. St. Helens
Named By explorer George Vancouver, for the 1st Baron St Helens, Alleyne FitzHerbert. The Cowlitz tribe, knowing her penchant for blowing up, called her Lawetlat’la, or “the smoker.”
Mt. Baker
Named Somewhat boringly after a third lieutenant on George Vancouver’s ship Discovery. Its earlier names are much cooler: Koma Kulshan or “great white watcher” by Native Americans and La Gran Montaña del Carmelo by the Spanish.
Mt. Adams
Named When a rather hapless explorer tried to rename the Cascades after presidents; he meant to give John Adams’s name to Oregon’s Mount Hood. (Whoops.) Native Americans called it Klickitat.
Mt. Rainier
Named After the beer. Kidding—Vancouver used the name of his buddy Rear Admiral Peter Rainier, who fought in the Revolutionary War. For the British side. One Puyallup tribal activist lobbied in 2010 to return it to its local name, Ti’Swaq, and previous campaigns have tried for Mount Tacoma or Tahoma.
Where to see the mountains of Puget Sound?
You could also go north to some of the islands in Puget Sound. There are several spots on Whidbey Island where you can get a clear (but distant and faint) view of Rainier. In fact, from Ebey’s Landing, you can see the mountains of three national parks at once! The peaks of Rainier, Olympic, and North Cascades national parks are all visible on clear days.
Where to see Seattle from Seattle?
Kerry Park in the Queen Anne neighborhood has long been considered one of the best places to overlook the entire city of Seattle. You can see the Space Needle, the downtown skyline, and the mountains all around the city, including Rainier.
What is the best time to visit Seattle?
The Best Time of Year to Visit Seattle for Rainier Sightings. Summer provides the best opportunity to see Rainier. Seattle summers are beautiful. The skies are clear, the sun is hot, and the temperature usually doesn’t get much above 80 degrees F on most days.
How tall is Mount Rainier?
Rainier. The majestic peak stands at an elevation of 14,411 feet, making it one of the highest mountains in the continental USA. And it’s less than 100 miles from downtown ...
Where to sit on a plane from Denver to Seattle?
Here’s a map showing the flight path from Denver to Seattle. Since Rainier is southeast of Seattle (see the yellow dot), you’ll want to sit on the left side of the plane to view it on this flight.
What is the tallest building in Seattle?
Don’t forget to consider other tall buildings with observation decks, such as Columbia Tower (the tallest building in downtown Seattle) and Smith Tower (a historic building in Pioneer Square .)
How to tell which side of the plane to sit on?
Enter the cities you’re flying between and choose an airline route. You’ll bring up a map showing the usual flight path , which will tell you which side of the plane to sit on. Basically, if you’re coming from the east, sit on the left side of the plane. If you’re flying up from the south, sit on the right.
What is the name of the mountain in Seattle?
1. Mt. Rainier backdropping the big-city skyline. Photo: Shutterstock/Pung. There is no singular landmass you can behold from Seattle as exaggerated or as striking at Mt. Rainier. As the centerpiece of the fifth national park designated in the United States, the mountain has held the imagination of the country as firmly as it held that ...
Is the Seattle Underground a movie set?
The subterranean corridors and forgotten storefronts that make up the popular Seattle Underground are so perfectly convincing it’s almost difficult to accept you’re not on a movie set. This was Seattle long before Safeco and the Space Needle. History sits quietly gathering dust under the strata of progress.
What is the name of the summit of Mount Rainier?
Little Tahoma Peak to the left of Mount Rainier. The broad top of Mount Rainier contains three named summits. The highest is called the Columbia Crest . The second highest summit is Point Success, 14,158 ft (4,315 m), at the southern edge of the summit plateau, atop the ridge known as Success Cleaver.
Where is Mount Rainier?
Mount Rainier ( / reɪˈnɪər / ), also known as Tahoma or Tacoma, is a large active stratovolcano in the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest, located in Mount Rainier National Park about 59 miles (95 km) south-southeast of Seattle.
What would happen if Mount Rainier erupted?
Helens did in its May 18, 1980 eruption, the effect would be cumulatively greater, because of the far more massive amounts of glacial ice locked on the volcano compared to Mount St. Helens, the vastly more heavily populated areas surrounding Rainier, and the fact that Mount Rainier is almost twice the size of St. Helens. Lahars from Rainier pose the most risk to life and property, as many communities lie atop older lahar deposits. According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), about 150,000 people live on top of old lahar deposits of Rainier. Not only is there much ice atop the volcano, the volcano is also slowly being weakened by hydrothermal activity. According to Geoff Clayton, a geologist with a Washington State Geology firm, RH2 Engineering, a repeat of the 5000-year-old Osceola Mudflow would destroy Enumclaw, Orting, Kent, Auburn, Puyallup, Sumner and all of Renton. Such a mudflow might also reach down the Duwamish estuary and destroy parts of downtown Seattle, and cause tsunami in Puget Sound and Lake Washington. Rainier is also capable of producing pyroclastic flows and expelling lava.
How tall is Little Tahoma Peak?
High on the eastern flank of Mount Rainier is a peak known as Little Tahoma Peak, 11,138 ft (3,395 m), an eroded remnant of the earlier, much higher, Mount Rainier. It has a prominence of 858 ft (262 m), and it is almost never climbed in direct conjunction with Columbia Crest, so it is usually considered a separate peak.
How many glaciers are there in Mount Rainier?
With 26 major glaciers and 36 sq mi (93 km 2) of permanent snowfields and glaciers, Mount Rainier is the most heavily glaciated peak in the lower 48 states. The summit is topped by two volcanic craters, each more than 1,000 ft (300 m) in diameter, with the larger east crater overlapping the west crater.
How tall is Mount Rainier?
Mount Rainier is ranked third of the 128 ultra-prominent mountain peaks of the United States. Mount Rainier has a topographic prominence of 13,210 ft (4,026 m), which is greater than that of K2, the world's second-tallest mountain, at 13,189 ft (4,020 m).
When did Mount Rainier become a national park?
Following this in 1897 , the Pacific Forest Reserve became the Mount Rainier Forest Reserve, and the national park was established three years later. Despite this, there was still a movement to change the mountain's name to Tacoma and Congress was still considering a resolution to change the name as late as 1924.
What are the two areas of Mount Baker?
The mountain lies in two separate areas designated by Congress: the Mount Baker Wilderness and the Mount Baker National Recreation Area.
How far is Glacier Peak from Seattle?
Sitting in the middle of a trackless, 500,000-acre wilderness area, it's the least known of Washington state's five major stratovolcanoes, even though it's only 70 miles from Seattle as the bald eagle flies. Still, don't expect motels, B&Bs or resort spas at every turn in this neck of the Wenatchee National Forest. Just getting to the start of the climbing route requires a hike-in of about eight miles (an easier access route was washed out in 2003), making any summit attempt at least a three-day affair. Bagging Glacier Peak also requires technical climbing skills and some glacier travel at high altitude, so come prepared — mentally and physically.
How many glaciers are there on Mount Baker?
On the Heliotrope Ridge Trail, you can get close to Coleman Glacier, the largest of Mount Baker's lucky 13 glaciers.
What is Mount Baker called?
Among the names accorded Mount Baker by indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest was Koma Kulshan ("Great White Watcher").
What is the world record for snowfall?
A perfect volcanic cone, Mount Baker boasts the world record for snowfall. A staggering 95 feet of snow — 1,140 inches — was recorded at Mount Baker Ski Area in the winter of 1998-99. Perpetually snow-capped, the mountain hosts the second-largest glacial system in the Lower 48 — after Mount Rainier. Want more facts? Here's a (Mount) Baker's dozen:
Where is the cabin at Desolation Peak?
For legions of Beat Generation devotees, perhaps no spot has greater significance than the fire-lookout cabin atop Desolation Peak (elevation: 6,102 feet) in what is now North Cascades National Park. It's where Jack Kerouac spent 63 days of solitude in the summer of 1956 scouting fires for the U.S. Forest Service and facing down demons as they floated by in the alpine ether. You don't have to be a fire lookout to visit Desolation Peak today, but getting there is no cakewalk: Tallyho 16 miles along Ross Lake (by foot or watercraft) from the Ross Lake Dam trailhead, then spend another day making the 4,400-foot ascent to the lookout, which, while occasionally used during the summer, is not open to the public.
Where is the Cascade Range?
With brawny assertiveness, the Cascade Range extends from northern California into southern British Columbia, a splendid serration of accessible beauty. In Washington, the range is both barrier — physical, climatological, even political — and unifier, bringing millions to its forested slopes every year in search of sumptuous scenery, sweet solitude and soft snow. West of Seattle, the Olympic Range — whose glorious peaks never cease to impress us on a clear day — is a more distant tease, requiring a trip across (or around) Puget Sound to reach its remote retreats.
What makes Seattle unique?
City neighborhoods are one of the features that make Seattle unique. Many were built in the 1920’s when the classic craftsman bungalow was popular. And, it is again.
Where to see cherry blossoms in Seattle?
Down the hill a couple miles to the east is the Washington Park Arboretum, a “must see” especially in March (cherry blossoms) and May (Azaleas). And, just across Lake Washington Boulevard is the Japanese Garden, one of the best I have seen even without my Seattle bias.
Where is Alki Beach in Seattle?
I can’t forget West Seattle, south and west (ha!) of downtown. Alki Beach, a sandy beach on Puget Sound, is Seattle’s version of Manhattan Beach, CA complete with volleyball and a “strand” but it also had a fab view of the Olympic Mountains. Alki point was the first white settlement and South Alki is wonderful at low tide. There is a pedestrian ferry from the Coleman Dock in Seattle to West Seattle. Marination Ma Kai, right next to the ferry dock, is on the list above for good casual food with a view.
What is the Montlake Bridge?
Montlake Bridge looking west from Portage Bay to Lake Washington and the Cascades. When I grew up in Seattle it was considered sleepy, backwards and cloudy. Rain is more of a mist and is only 37 inches per year. The economy was highly dependent on Boeing. (Historically, Seattle was a lumber and fishing town.)
Where is the Seattle Symphony Orchestra located?
Benaroya Hall, also downtown, features the famous Seattle Symphony Orchestra. The Triple Door and Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley host top musicians indoors while St Michelle Winery, on the dreaded “east side”, and the Woodland Park Zoo hosts popular groups outdoors in the summer. Lodging.
Where is the only open air saltwater pool in Seattle?
Lincoln Park, out in West Seattle, is another Olmsted Park right on the Sound. Low tide is great here. And, it has the only open air public saltwater swimming pool in the area!
Where is the link light rail in Seattle?
Link Light Railis now a perfect way to get into the city from the Seattle-Tacoma Airport (which is about 30 minutes south of town) to downtown – it goes all the way to University of Washington, slightly north of the downtown.
How tall is the Snohomish volcano?
The tallest visible peak is Snohomish County’s resident volcano, Glacier Peak, at 10,542 feet. But given its greater distance from the lowlands, it only appears on the clearest “three-volcano” days as a snowy pimple on Pilchuck’s south shoulder.
How tall is Whitehorse Mountain?
A. (Pushing back your Mountaineers cap:) “That peak is Whitehorse Mountain, elevation 6,840 feet, and it appears its snow cap has shrunk a bit. When I last climbed the Northwest Shoulder blah blah blah …”
What is Mount Stickney named after?
• Mount Stickney (elev. 5,280), originally called Prospect Mountain, was later renamed after a prospector who worked in the area and who reportedly went to Alaska in 1898 and was killed by wolves.
When was South Peak first climbed?
The South Peak (elev. 6,854) is widely considered to have been the highest. It was first summited in 1929 by Forest Service rangers Harry Bedal and Harold Engles, who then ensured no one would ever repeat the feat by blowing the top 15 feet off the mountain with dynamite to build a lookout cabin.
Is the western Cascades snowcapped?
Most of us, even a few long-term residents, would find “B” closer to the mark. Yet on a clear day , the western Cascades are our own personal snow-capped end of the world, even if we’d be hard-pressed to name more than one or two.
